


A Little Bit Better

by knouis



Category: One Direction (Band), Radio 1 RPF
Genre: Challenge of Infinite Earths, Fluff, M/M, Tomlinshaw - Freeform, Worried Nick is the best Nick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-23
Updated: 2013-01-23
Packaged: 2017-11-26 13:57:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/651213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knouis/pseuds/knouis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically, Nick likes Louis and Louis likes Nick. It's just a classic case of pulling pigtails. And there's some quidditch but that's neither here nor there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Bit Better

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know. For the "Challenge of Infinite Earths" Day 1

Louis likes to hope for things. Things such as brilliant marks in Potions or going an entire day without Professor Malfoy deducting points from Slytherin on Louis’ account.  Today, after waking with a killer headache, Louis hoped to stumble down to breakfast without any dilemmas. And maybe even sneak to the Hufflepuff table and snag a comfort cuddle from Harry or Niall but no, the fates had to be against him. Louis had to trip on absolutely nothing while Zayn simply watched and snorted as he sprawled on the rock floor.

“I’m disowning you, Zayn,” Louis announced from the ground, staring up at the arched ceiling.

“You couldn’t if you tried,” Zayn quipped and Louis couldn’t argue because it was true.

Louis was about to pull himself to his feet, maybe hunt down Liam and force him to coddle him, when the voice he least wanted to hear rang through the corridor in its stupid smooth glory.

“Oi! Tomlinson! Have a tumble, darling?”

Louis groaned and lifted his head to look up at Nick Grimshaw. The seventh year stood smirking in his hideous red tie and black robes that clung to his lanky body. Louis noticed that Nick’s quiff seemed to defy gravity more than usual today and attempted to bring forth any kind of crude jokes about it but he was more focused on how he was sprawled quite suggestively on the floor in front of _Nick fucking Grimshaw_ and Zayn, the bastard, was cackling behind him being no help.

“ ‘ello Nick, you’re looking particularly posh today,” Louis said.

“Mmm, just cleaned up after quidditch practice but you wouldn’t know what that is. Ignorant Slytherins thinking they don’t need to practice and all that,” Nick sniffed, a smirk working across his stupid face.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Louis huffed finally pushing himself up and brushing off his robes.

Louis felt Zayn step up to his side and place a hand on his shoulder. Louis knew he was trying to keep Louis from punching Nick across his sculpted jaw. Louis also knew he was only doing it so he wouldn’t have to listen to Liam lecture about calming their friends.

“I mean with all that confidence in your teams abilities, you’ll have no room to actually win.”

Louis blinked. “Have you forgotten who’s beat you the last three years?”

Nick flapped an arm in the air, that infuriating smirk still present and stepped forward to place a long arm around Louis shoulders.

“Details, darling, details. All I’m saying is don’t expect to win this weekend.”

Louis growled and shoved Nick off. Nick only laughed that laugh that bounces off walls and sticks in Louis’ ears for days as he walked toward the Great Hall, a spring in his step that Louis is one hundred percent sure was Nick’s way of taunting Louis.

Louis clenched his fists and stalked toward the Great Hall dutifully ignoring how the back of his neck was burning from Nick grazing his knuckles against Louis’ skin.

Zayn followed closely as Louis forwent going to the Slytherin table and went straight to the Hufflepuff’s table, searching out curly hair and blonde hair at the same time. He spied them instantaneously, Niall slapping at Harry as he tried to lazily swipe food from the blondes plate even know the curly headed twat had his own full plate of breakfast. Louis threw himself onto the bench next to Harry and pushed his face into his best friend’s neck already mumbling and groaning about how insufferable Nick is. Louis felt Harry wrap an arm around him and Louis stopped moaning about Nick because he liked to enjoy his cuddles in silence, thank you.

“What are you going on about?” Harry questioned.

“We ran into Grimshaw,” Zayn explained from somewhere across the table. Louis didn’t move to look where he was.

“Aw, Grimmy got him riled up, did he?” Niall mumbled and Louis didn’t have to open his eyes to see Niall most likely had food hanging out of his mouth while he spoke.

“Only one who can,” Harry threw in sounding entirely too adoring for Louis’ tastes.

“Mate, your hero worship over Grimmy is starting to become a concern for me,” Niall said.

Niall’s a good one, Louis thought.

“Says the one who’s getting tutored by the bloke,” Zayn scoffed.

Or he’s not, Louis thought.

Louis opened his eyes to gaze across at Niall as he attempted to dump his pumpkin juice down Zayn’s robes.

“You what?” Louis scowled.

Niall colored and grabbed Zayn in a headlock. “Zayn is too, Liam refuses to tutor us.”

“You’re traitors, the lot of you,” Louis groaned and shoved away from Harry.

“Aw, c’mon, Lou,” Harry pleaded trying to grab Louis’ robes as he stood.

Louis batted at Harry’s hands and said, “I’m leaving you lot to think about your loyalties.”

“We’re only trying to get to know him so once you admit you’re in love with him, we’ll already be mates with him,” Zayn explained escaping Niall’s headlock.

Louis flipped Zayn the bird before stalking to the Ravenclaw table and hunting the benches for Liam; Liam would tend to his wounded soul. He found the buzzed head and burrowed into the space between him and some faceless Ravenclaw.

“Louis?” Liam greeted.

“Our friends have switched sides, you’re my only hope,” Louis whined putting his head on his friend’s broad shoulder.

“I know that tone, it’s your Grimmy tone,” Liam hummed pulling an empty plate in front of Louis.

Louis pinched Liam in the side, listening to him squawk before saying, “I don’t have a ‘Grimmy tone’.”

“Whatever you say Lou,” Liam said and filled the plate with what Louis recognized as his favorite breakfast foods.

“What’s this?” Louis asked.

“We’ve got double potions today and your blood pressure is probably shattered from running into Grimmy. You need to eat before you lose it, don’t want Professor Malfoy to dock points, eh?”

Louis wrapped his arms around Liam and squeezed him tight. “This is why I love you best, Liam Payne.”

&&&

The rest of the week Louis managed to only get fifty points docked from his house, forced his team to practice for the match this weekend, and successfully avoided making a complete idiot of himself in front of Nick. He forgave Niall and Zayn and even accompanied them to their tutor session with Nick only to anger Nick so much that Niall and Zayn never really did get tutored. Louis had adored the angry red blush that spread across Nick’s neck and had counted it as a win.

Now the match was upon them and Louis was _burning_ with the need to not only beat Gryffindor but also beat Nick. He’d already sent his team to the pitch when Niall, Harry, Zayn, and Liam found him. Louis felt a tickle of fondness through his determination when he caught sight of Niall, Harry, and Liam ditching their house colors to don Slytherin colors. They were odd most of the time but Louis wouldn’t trade them for the world.

“Hey Lou,” Harry greeted rushing Louis into a hug.

“Hi Haz,” Louis chuckled patting Harry’s back.

Harry broke away and Liam grinned at him. “Going to win this?”

Louis rolled his eyes and propped his broom on his shoulder.

“Course, Liam.”

“Yeah, ‘s long as you don’t realize you want shag Grimmy in the middle of the game,” Niall cackled.

“Then there’s no hope of the game even continuing,” Zayn added.

Louis snatched his broom and attempted to swat the two across the head with it but they ducked away, running off still cackling.

“Ignore them,” Liam said. “Be careful out there, yeah?”

“Always am, Dad,” Louis teased.

A whistle signaling the game was about to start had Louis trotting toward the pitch with Harry calling out, “Make sure you wait until you win to snog Grimmy’s face off, mate!”

It took all of Louis self-control to not flip his best friend the finger. He was rather proud of himself. Louis pushed through his team to meet at the middle of the pitch where Madam Hooch and Nick were already waiting.

Louis cocked an eyebrow at Nick dutifully keeping his eyes above the dip in Nick’s shirt and the bit of collarbone popping out. No time for distractions from stupid quidditch captains.

“Hello, _darling_ ,” Nick greeted resting his chin on the end of his broomstick.

Louis rolled his eyes. “Ready to lose?”

“Are you asking yourself or me?” Nick quipped.

“All right you two,” Madam Hooch interrupted. “Let’s keep this clean, please. I want no injuries, understood?”

Louis nodded under the woman’s intense gaze and mounted the broom. He caught sight of Nick still smirking and snapped, “What?”

Nick shrugged. “Just appreciating how fast you mounted that broom, love.”

“Maybe if you were a little faster you’d be able to keep up,” Louis replied and took great satisfaction at Nick’s wide-eyed gaze before shooting into the air at the sound of Madam Hooch’s whistle.

The game was going fine, would have been going better if Louis couldn’t feel Nick’s eyes on him every second he shot around looking for the snitch. He thought he saw the snitch once or twice but it darted away as soon as he set eyes on it leaving him to curse and scowl at Nick’s distant cackles.

Louis was eyeing the sky when he saw a speck of gold and shot off. He heard the other team’s seeker shoot after him and focused solely on the snitch. Which is probably the reason he didn’t notice the bludger until it was smashing into his head and he was suddenly not on his broom. Louis’ heard screaming and felt his head tear open in pain as black dots covered his vision. He thinks it’s partly due to the panic of falling through mid air and partly the pain that sent him into a sea of darkness. He just hoped he wouldn’t feel it when he hit the ground.

&&&

Louis woke to a warm weight at his side, blunt pain centering on his entire head, and the distinct smell of the Hospital Wing. Louis opened his mouth to groan only to get a mouthful of curly hair.

“Haz,” Louis mumbled because he knows that hair, which is repulsive.

There were suddenly loud cries of his name that disturbed his head and he made a quick shushing noise. He blinked his eyes open in the dim light of the Hospital Wing to find the beaming faces of his best friends. Harry was lying next to him with Niall sitting at Louis’ feet. Zayn and Liam were sitting in chairs next to his bed, all still in their green colors.

“Hi,” Louis mumbled.

“Hi? You almost die and all you say is hi?” Zayn said rolling his eyes.

Liam hit Zayn in the chest and leaned forward, his face pulled into concern. “How are you feeling?”

“Like my head just got crushed by a train,” Louis said. “What happened?”

Harry cooed, actually cooed, and sat up. Louis allowed him to pull his injured head to his chest where he began to gingerly run his long fingers through Louis’ hair. Louis melted because Harry’s cold hands felt good on his head.

“One of those Weasley’s hit you with a bludger, right to the head,” Niall explained.  “Knocked you right off your broom, you were a goner, definitely.”

“But then Grimmy came along out of nowhere, swept you right up and onto his broom. It was brilliant,” Harry added.

“Yup, and then he refused to play the rest of the game and followed us all up here. We finally convinced him to change out of his quidditch gear only a couple twenty minutes ago,” Zayn said and Louis spied a smirk. “He’s proper worried.”

Louis cracked an eye open, feeling warm in his chest, and asked, “How worried?”

“Sick with it,” Niall explained. “I reckon he’s probably tearing Weasley apart at the seams.”

“Anyway,” Liam interrupted, “Let’s get you up and I’ll get Pomfrey.”

Louis moaned and swayed as Harry helped him sit up and swing his legs over the side of the bed. Just when Liam opened the curtains to leave the front doors sprang open and Louis knew before he looked up that his eyes would meet Nick’s own.

“You,” Nick scowled pointing a gangly finger in Louis’ direction.

“Me,” Louis replied standing up and pushing Harry away when he tried to shove him back down.

“You’re going to give me heart failure before I’m twenty, you little monster,” Nick growled and Louis knows to anyone else Nick sounded proper angry but Louis, Louis knew differently.

“Got to keep you on your toes, Nicholas,” Louis said trying to step toward Nick only to pitch forward under a dizzy spell.

Of course hands grabbed him and they were big and warm. Louis looked up at Nick’s face and found the unconcealed worry _adorable._

“Gotcha,” Louis chuckled and pressed up on his toes to touch his mouth to Nick’s.

Nick froze in surprise causing Louis to only press further until Nick moved. Nick’s hands came to the sides of his cheeks and Louis curled his hands in Nick’s robes.

And, Louis thought, fighting with Nick and making him flush was great but kissing him was just a bit better.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first Tomlinshaw ever! I don't even know. Comment and all that brilliant stuff.


End file.
